Quenching device



Jan. 20,-1953 H, w, SECOR QUENCHING DEVICE Filed 0012. 22, 1946 Inventor: Herbert W Secon His Atc orney Patented Jan. 20, 1953 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE QUENCl llNgv l lllvlcE Herbert W. .Secor, BallstonSpa,N..,Y,, assignor to. General Electric Company, a... corporation of NewYork Application October 22, 1946, Serial No. 704,946

3 Claims. 1

My invention relates to quenching devices, more particularly to devicesfor projecting a quenching fluid onto a heated article, and has for itsobject simple and reliable means for applying the cooling fluiduniformly over the area to be quenched.

More parti'cularly my invention relates to quenching devices of the typein which the quenching fluid is applied to the: heated surface in theform of a plurality of'jets, such as used in the quenching of steelarticles forhardening purposes, and especially to quenching devices ofannular or cylindrical form with apertures in an inner wall fordirecting jets of quenching fluid radially on the surface of acylindrical heated object. In such devices when the quenching fluid isapplied to a heated area of substantial size by means of a plurality oforifices I have found that nonuniform quenching may result because ofdifferences in the pressure of the fluid at the various orifices causedby a drop in the pressure of the fluid in flowing to the orifices mostremote from the point at which the fluid is supplied to the quenchingdevice.

My invention therefore comprehends an improved construction for assuringan adequate supply ofquenching fluid such as water to the quenchingdevice with uniform pressure at the orifices. In one form of m inventionI provide a cylindrical r annular header member to which the coolingfluid is supplied. Secured to this header member on one side is anannular quenching member havin orifices in its innerwall andconnected'to the header by orifices in the wall separating the t o. Thewater supplied to the header thus is fed into the quenching member atone end around the periphery of the quenching member and flo s axiall ofthe quenching member directly to the ,1 et orifices. To assure a uniformpressure at all points in the quenching member. the total areaof thefeed orifices between the hea er and the quenching member is madesubstantially greater than the total area For a more completeunderstanding of my invention reference should be. had to theaccompanying drawing, Fig. i of which is an elevation View partly insection of a c lindrical quenching device embod ing my in ention. whileFig. 2 is a, plan, view partly in section of the device shown in Fig.1.v

Referring to the drawing, I have shown my invention in, one form asapplied to a hollow cylindrical quenching member I for applying radiallydirected jets of quenching fluid to a cylindrical electricallyconducting heated member 2, such as a steel pin to be hardened. It willbe understood that the member or article 2 is suitably heated beforebeing quenched such as by means of a high fre uency induction heatingcoil (not shown) and after being heated the article 2 is transferredquickly to the quenching member I, as shown in the drawing. Icontemplate also that the heating coil may be mounted inside thequenching portion I so the article 2 is quenched by jets of coolingfluid passing be tween the turns of the coil. The quenching device;primarily is used for hardening purposes, although the quenchingoperation may be used for other purposes such as in the annealing ofstainless steel.

The cylindrical quenching member I is provided with coaxial outer andinner walls 3 and 4 joined at the top by an end wall 5" forming a waterreceiving chamber, the inner wall 4 being provided with a plurality oforifices 6 through which water is directed in a radial direction withrespect to the quenching member on the article 2'. For the purpose ofsupplying cooling water to the member I, I provide an annular headermember 1 having an internal diameter substantially the same as themember I and secured to the lower end of the member l in concentricrelation therewith, such as by brazing. A series of orifices 8 areprovided in the upper wall of the header 1 separating the header fromthe member I, through which orifices'cooling water is fed into the waterreceiving chamber of member I. Preferably, as shown, the orifices B inthe memher i are arranged in a plurality of vertical series of aperturesas viewed in the dra ing. these vertical series of orifices beingequally spaced apart around the inner periphery of the member i, and afeed orifice 8 is provided just below each vertical series of orifices 8as shown in the drawing. Moreover, each feed orifice 8 has an areasubstantially greater, preferably about 50 per cent greater, than thecom ined areas of the vertical series'of orifices 6 fed by it.

As shown, the header l is substantially souare in cross-section so as toassure the supply of water at a uniform pressure to all points of itfrom th diametrically spaced apart water connections 9 and I9. Moreover,the cross-sectional area of the header is large as compared with thecombined areas of the feed orifices 8.. By means of this constructionwater is supplied at a substantiallyuniform pressure: to all ofthe-.feed

orifices 8 and in turn is supp ed t rough the feed orifice at asubstantially uniform pressure to. the jet orifices 6.

it will be understood that the quant ty of water which flows into thewater receiving chamber of quenching member iis restricted by theorifices 8', with the result that the water flows in this chamber (whichhas a much greater cross section than the orifices) at a relatively lowvelocity as compared with the velocity of flow throu h the orifices. Ihave found that this slow rate of flow in the member l, i. e.,. theupward flow when the member is upright as shown in the drawing, isessential for uniform formation of water jets through the quenchingorifices B. As the water rises in the member 1, some water tricklesthrough the holes. 6, but this water runs down the inside walls of saidmember and does not come in contact with the article 2., When thequench.- ing member becomes filled with water, however,

3 the jets are formed simultaneously from the holes 6 and apply watersimultaneously to all parts of the article 2 within the quenching zone.simultaneous formation of the quenching jets is important because thequenching operation may be of extremely short duration, such asonequarter second and, consequently, if the jets were not formedsimultaneously, uneven quenching would result.

It will be understood that my invention is particularly useful inconnection with intermittently used quenching devices, 1. e., forquenching in rapid succession a plurality of articles 2 fed into thequenching device. In such case the water supply to the inlets 9 and I isshut ofi momentarily between quenchin operations and then appliedmomentarily for the quenching which requires at the beginning of eachquenching operation rapid movement of water to the most remote points ofthe device. With the device in the position shown in the drawing withits axis vertical, the upper orifices 6 are most remote from the watersupply. I contemplate however that the device may be used in otherpositions, for example with its axis horizontal.

For the purpose of preventing the induction of heating currents in thequenching device itself, the device 1 and the header 7 arediscontinuous, i. e., provided with a longitudinal slot ll preferablypositioned midway between the two water supply connections 9 and I0. Icontemplate for example that the induction heating coil may bepermanently located around the periphery of the portion 1, in which casethe article 2 is heated and quenched in one position. The quenchingdevice is made of a suitable material having high electricalconductivity, such as copper or brass.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention it willbe'understood of course that I do not wish to be limited thereto sincemany modifications may be made and I therefore contemplate by theappended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the truespirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. A quenchin device comprising a member constructed of a plurality ofwalls forming a water receiving chamber, one of said walls beingprovided with a plurality of relatively small quenching orifices, aheader member connected to said chamber member, at least one relativelylarge orifice having an area substantially greater than the combinedarea of said quenching orifices but substantially smaller than thecross-sectional .''area' of said chamber providing for communication'betweensaid header and said chamber, and means for supplying a quenchingfluid to said header member for the supply of quenching fluid throughsaid relatively large orifice to said chamber, said relatively largeorifice serving to restrict the quantity of fluid flowing into saidchamber for producing a relatively low velocity of fluid flow in saidchamber whereby when said chamber becomes filled jets of fluid aresupplied from said quenching orifices substantially simultaneously foruniform quenching.

2. A quenching device comprising a hollow member constructed of aplurality of walls forming a water receiving chamber therearound, aninwardly disposed one of said walls being provided with a plurality ofsmall quenching orifices, a header member secured to one end of saidhollow member, said members being separated by a wall provided with aplurality of relatively The large orifices having a combined areasubstantially greater than the combined area of said quenching orificesbut substantially smaller than the cross-sectional area of said chamber,and means for supplying a quenching fluid to said header member for thesupply of quenching fluid through said relatively large orifices to saidchamber, said relatively large orifices restricting the flow of fluidinto said chamber for providing a relatively low velocity of fluid flowin said chamber whereby when said chamber becomes filled jets of fluidare supplied from said quenching orifices substantially simultaneouslyfor uniform quenching of an article positioned within said hollowmember.

3. A quenching device comprisin a vertically disposed hollow cylindricalmember constructed of walls forming an annular water receiving chamberincluding two coaxial walls, the inner of said two coaxial walls beingprovided with a plurality of relatively small quenching orificesarranged in a plurality of equally spaced vertical series, each of saidseries having the same number of equally spaced orifices, an annularheader member secured to the lower end of said cylindrical member inconcentric relation therewith, said members being separated by a wallprovided with a number of relatively large orifices equal to the numberof said series providing for the admission of water from said header tosaid chamber, the combined area of said large orifices beingsubstantially greater than the combined area of said quenching orificesbut substantially smaller than the cross-sectional area of said chamber,the combined area of said large orifices also being substantiallysmaller than the crosssectional area of said header transversely to thedirection of Water flow therethrough, said large orifices beingpositioned respectively in alignment with said series of quenchingorifices, and means for supplying a quenching fluid to said headermember for the supply of quenching fluid through said relatively largeorifices to said chamber, said relatively large orifices restricting theflow of fluid into said chamber for providing a decreased velocity offluid flow in said chamber whereby when said chamber becomes filled jetsof fluid are supplied from said quenching orifices substantiallysimultaneously for uniform quenching of an article positioned withinsaid hollow member.

HERBERT W. SECOR.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 415,935 Boyntonet al Nov. 26, 1889 871,932 Hansen Nov. 26, 1907 1,533,639 Ehn Apr. 14,1925 1,698,358 Smith Jan. 15, 1929 1,899,495 Celaya Feb. 28, 19332,009,078 Ziska j July 23, 1935 2,202,758 Denneen et al May 2-8, 19402,277,223 Goodridge Mar. 24, 1942 2,297,491 Meier Sept. 29, 19422,329,188 Denneen et a1 Sept. 14,1943 2,376,515 Somes May 22, 19452,422,757 Swift June 24., 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date12,002 Great Britain of 1909

